5 Tips for Employer Branding on Smartphones

Over the last year I have been involved in supporting 30 UK Job Boards or Recruitment Agencies enhance their reach to the Smartphone market. I am currently working with some major global brands on interesting projects to market their employer brand on Smartphones across Europe and the US.

Here are some top tips today to help focus an organisation’s Mobile Recruiting Strategy:

Prioritise the device market based on expected ROI; for the majority of companies this should be: Reach the iPhone Market with an App. Support the Android Market with an App; these guys are catching up Apple fast. If you are in banking or finance, support the Blackberry first. If not then currently this is not a big hit winner.Get a Mobile Site to support all other devices, but all of the other devices put together will give you a lower return vs iPhone and Android.

Don’t read the Smartphone stats incorrectly and make a big mistake! I know the iPhone and Android have less devices on the street than Blackberry and Nokia. But the Blackberry and Nokia users do not browse the web and download apps very actively. It is a total waste of time (unless you are in banking), the iPhone owners alone are so active they generate 55% of mobile Internet page views!

Do not make the terrible mistake of viewing Appstore and Google’s Market as device technology. Appstore have c.70m users that can search and download your app or just be exposed to your brand! They are both rapidly growing marketing channels. They will generate direct traffic and brand exposure. Millions of users are searching this space.

Don’t drag your feet too long waiting to see what other people do! AppStore and Google Market are similar to Google Website – they have users searching every day. You want to be at the top! There are only a few optimisations to get you to the top, first your App Name. If your company is the Daddy for employing Engineers then the word Engineers needs to be in your App Name along with your company brand. You cannot buy the App Name; once it has been taken, bad luck – a bit like domain name.

Remember the mobile is a very personal device, the power of 1:1 communication via your App is huge! Use push notifications (a method to send messages that pop up on the screen, over the web, for free) to help engage your potential employee. If you are effective with Social Recruiting embed your 2 way engagement into your Apps.

Well that’s just to get you started! Please comment with your questions so my next top tips can include answers to your queries!